The Democratic Party of Virginia held its Steering and Central Committee Meetings in Blacksburg, Virginia this weekend – visiting the Fightin’ Ninth Congressional District for the first time in memory. The trip was a bit of challenge, but if you are going to be stuck on a Virginia interstate for hours, I-81 has nice scenery, and the weather was beautiful. Once we got there, we received a very warm welcome from the Montgomery County and other SW Va Democrats and were happy to be at Va. Tech. I liked the new format which included workshops in addition to the business meeting. Highlights included:

General Assembly candidate recruitment is ongoing and will continue past primary filing deadline as committees have until August 23 to nominate candidates.

DPVA is working with campaigns, local committees, and constituencies in preparing GOTV efforts, voter file updates, mailings, fundraising, volunteer efforts, and other 2011 election activities.

Sign up for the DPVA/OFA/VYD “summit” to be held in Richmond on July 15-17 (more later)

DPVA has ramped up its communications activities, including email, social media, press release and other updates. Communications director Brian Coy lead a workshop of message development and delivery – focusing on the party’s commitment to opportunity and fighting for middle class families.

Del. Onslee Ware led a very interesting workshop on General Assembly key issues and process.

The Virginia Democratic Black Caucus held their annual Juneteenth Lunch, which was excellent as always – and included a presentation on the Freedom Rider movement (more later).

I am proud to represent Virginia as one of our five elected members of the Democratic National Committee. This site features my regular reports from the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Virginia , occasional news and comment regarding Virginia politics, and useful links and references. More about me, click here.